A Review for Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1) by Simone Elkeles

Posted by Donna
Release Date: January 2nd, 2014
Finished Date: October 7th, 2013

Publishers: Walker UK  
Genre: YA Romance, Contemporary
Source: For Review

Format: eARC
Pages: 288

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek "someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all

The Review: "Because I'm trying to push you away when all I want to do is hold you. I know you say you don't want a hero, but damn I'd like to be that guy who'll save you from spiders and whatever and whoever else hurts you."

Simone Elkeles was the very first writer to introduce to me to the wonderful world of contemporary romance, with her awesome Perfect Chemistry series. So when I heard she was writing a new series, I was stupidly excited. I wanted her to re-create the magic she did with her other series, but while I definitely enjoyed Wild Cards, I didn't think it was quiet as memorable as the likes of Perfect Chemistry or Leaving Paradise.

Wild Cards stars footballer player Ashtyn Parker. Ashtyn has been promoted to captain of the high school football team over her popular boyfriend, Landon. When Ashtyn's Sister turns up with her new step-son; Derek, Ashtyn reactions to Derek are somewhat uncalled for....it's pretty clear that she's hiding some attraction to him. But for some reason Derek always brings the worst out in Ashtyn, but what's a girl to do when she has a hot guy living with her?

Derek Fitzpatrick just got kicked out of school for pulling one of the most talked about pranks, so when he finds himself living with his step-mom's family, he's determined to find a way out. It's not until Ashtyn starts to get under his skin that he starts to realise he wants more than his carefree ways of life. Can Derek and Ashtyn really be good for each other under all of their own insecurities?

I definitely enjoyed Wild Cards, it's a quick read, one that's humorous and has a sweet, slow burning romance. It's got some very light hearted moments but then deals with some hard ones too. What I love about Simone's work is how easy it is to get lost in her work, and while I did with this, at times I couldn't help compare it to the Perfect Chemistry and I like I said before, I don't think it's quiet as memorable as it. I liked the characters, I liked the story, I liked the romance, but nothing really blew me away in Wild Cards, it didn't give me the feelings I remember having for some of Simone's other work. I went into the story with the impression that it would be very football based, but I don't think it was. The football was more of the back story and was left open. Maybe that was done on purpose because there are other books to come in the series, but I was expecting a bit more involvement with Derek on the football side.

Derek and Ashtyn together were actually very entertaining. Their banter at times, was hilarious. Derek having a southern accent always tried to rub Ashtyn up the wrong way, so by calling her "Sugar Pie" was one of them. It actually became quiet a cute nickname. Ashtyn being her fiery self, always seemed to rise to Derek and they found themselves in some funny situations. It was pretty easy to spot their attraction to one another, even though, it took them forever to figure it out themselves.

In all, Wild Cards wasn't a bad read but it didn't live up to my expectations. I still adore Simone and her work, and while this wasn't my favourite, I still urge everyone to go and read at least one of her books, because they can open up so many doors for you - like her work did for me.